Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd — Q1 FY27 earnings call
Summary generated by AI from the official transcript Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd filed with BSE on 28 Jul 2026. Every statement cites a verbatim quote from that document — open any citation to read it. This is a record of what management said, not a recommendation. How we check these summaries
The short read
Smartworks reported Q1 FY27 revenue of Rs 546 crores, up 44% year-on-year, with normalized EBITDA of Rs 107 crores at a 19.6% margin and normalized PAT of Rs 39 crores, nearly triple the year-ago quarter. Management said the company added 0.3 million square foot of operational space this quarter, reaching 10.4 million square foot, while committed occupancy of mature centres stood at 92%. Management also announced the acquisition of Work Studio in Singapore and reaffirmed full-year guidance of 28% to 30% revenue growth and 19% to 20% normalized EBITDA margin.
Numbers mentioned
Revenue: INR 546 crores (Q1 FY27)
p. 3
“Our revenues stood at INR 546 crores, up 44% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter.”
Neetish Sarda, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Normalized EBITDA: INR 107 crores (Q1 FY27)
p. 3
“The normalized EBITDA of INR 107 crores, up 74% year-on-year and 8% quarter-on-quarter, with the margin expanding from 19% in the last quarter to 19.6% this quarter.”
Neetish Sarda, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Normalized PAT: INR 39 crores (Q1 FY27)
p. 4
“Our normalized PAT stood at INR 39 crores, which nearly tripled from INR 13 crores in the same quarter last year.”
Neetish Sarda, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Operational area: 10.4 million square foot (Q1 FY27)
p. 4
“Our operational area stands at 10.4 million square foot with committed occupancy of mature centres around (1) 92%.”
Neetish Sarda, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Multi-city client revenue contribution: 35% (Q1 FY27)
p. 4
“The multi-city clients now contribute 35% of our revenue, up from 31% in FY26.”
Neetish Sarda, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
1,000+ seater cohort revenue contribution: 41% (Q1 FY27)
p. 4
“The next metric, which is 1,000 plus seater cohort, now contributes more than 41% of Smartworks' revenue, up from 37% in FY26.”
Neetish Sarda, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
GCC client revenue contribution: 21% (Q1 FY27)
p. 4
“Today, GCC clients contribute 21% of our revenue, up from 15% in FY26, with significant headroom ahead.”
Neetish Sarda, page 4 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Committed contracted revenue: approximately INR 5,400 crores
p. 3
“Committed contracted revenue today stands at approximately INR 5,400 crores, and 87% of our FY27 revenue is already contracted for.”
Neetish Sarda, page 3 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Operating cash flow to EBITDA: 0.9x (Q1 FY27)
p. 6
“On cash generation, our operating cash flow to EBITDA was 0.9x this quarter on normalized operating cash flow of INR 95 crores, which is up 10% year-on-year.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Free cash flow: negative INR 56 crores (Q1 FY27)
p. 6
“On the investment front, our free cash flow is negative INR 56 crores against negative INR 4.9 crores a year ago, as capex stepped up 66% year-on-year to ~INR 150 crores.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Net debt: INR 5.6 crores
p. 6
“The balance sheet remains virtually debt-free with net debt of just INR 5.6 crores and borrowing cost under 9%.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
ROCE: 21.5% (Q1 FY27)
p. 6
“On returns, our annualized ROCE held at 21.5%, which is up 870 bps year-on-year, despite INR 151 crores of fresh capital deployed into capex.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Seat retention: 74% (Q1 FY27)
p. 6
“On our client quality, our seat retention was 74%, but you should read this alongside committed occupancy of mature centres, which stands at a very healthy 92%, and alongside the fact that occupied seats actually rose during the quarter.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Occupancy: 81% (Q1 FY27)
p. 6
“Our occupancy was 81% versus 82% in Q4 FY26.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Non-lease rental revenue (VAS): INR 68 crores (Q1 FY27)
p. 17
“If you look at our numbers for the same quarter last year, non-lease rental revenue stood at INR 22 crores, which this quarter has already increased to over INR 68 crores.”
Neetish Sarda, page 17 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Realization for incremental seats leased in mature footprint: INR 181 per square foot (Q1 FY27)
p. 13
“Your question with respect to our realization: our realization for incremental seats which we leased out in Q1 FY27 under the mature footprint, it was at around INR 181 per square foot.”
Anirudh Tapuriah, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
What management said it would do
A record of statements made on the call, in the words management used. Parakho does not forecast, endorse or assess them, and their presence here is not a view on whether they will happen.
Revenue growth — 28% to 30% · FY27
stated firmly by Neetish Sarda
p. 5
“We reaffirm our guidance of 28% to 30% revenue growth, normalized EBITDA margins between 19% to 20%, and an operational footprint of over 13 million square foot by March 2027, anchored by INR 5,400 crores of contracted revenue and a ready pipeline of signed buildings which are already under construction.”
Neetish Sarda, page 5 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Operational footprint — over 13 million square foot · March 2027
stated firmly by Neetish Sarda
p. 5
“We reaffirm our guidance of 28% to 30% revenue growth, normalized EBITDA margins between 19% to 20%, and an operational footprint of over 13 million square foot by March 2027, anchored by INR 5,400 crores of contracted revenue and a ready pipeline of signed buildings which are already under construction.”
Neetish Sarda, page 5 of the filed PDF · View the filing
ROCE — FY28
stated as an aspiration by Neetish Sarda
p. 5
“Our ROCE held at 21.5% through the heaviest investment quarter in our history, and as this capex cohort matures and completes payback, we expect ROCE to expand meaningfully through FY28.”
Neetish Sarda, page 5 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Capex — INR 550 crores to INR 600 crores · FY27
stated firmly by Neetish Sarda
p. 8
“Yes. So, our capex estimated is between INR 550 crores to INR 600 crores for the year.”
Neetish Sarda, page 8 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Operational space addition — 2.5 to 3 million square feet · FY27
stated firmly by Anirudh Tapuriah
p. 13
“With respect to our visibility, we have guided for adding 2.5 to 3 million square feet in fiscal year '27, with our revenue guidance being constant at 28% to 30% revenue guidance and a normalized EBITDA guidance of 19% to 20% from a full-year perspective.”
Anirudh Tapuriah, page 13 of the filed PDF · View the filing
SmartVantage services revenue — double · over the next two years
stated as an aspiration by Harsh Binani
p. 12
“And we expect this revenue to meaningfully double over the next two years.”
Harsh Binani, page 12 of the filed PDF · View the filing
IT/ITES share of client mix — between 25% to 30/35%
stated as an aspiration by Neetish Sarda
p. 10
“So, keeping IT/ITES at about between 25% to 30/35% is what the target would be and diversifying our client portfolio by focusing a lot more on business consultancy, engineering and manufacturing clients.”
Neetish Sarda, page 10 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Occupancy — 80% to 85% · next three quarters
stated conditionally by Neetish Sarda
p. 11
“So, with that, I think we can fairly say that anywhere between 80% to 85% is where we can effectively look at our occupancies throughout the next three quarters, despite the high growth.”
Neetish Sarda, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Q&A highlights
Management's answers to analyst questions, in Parakho's words rather than a transcript. Each row names who answered and carries the verbatim quote it was drawn from.
Management said the acquisition was funded from Smartworks' own cash flows and was acquired at cost of construction, adding 400-450 seats of new sellable capacity in Singapore.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Shamit Ashar: What is the rationale for the Work Studio acquisition in Singapore and expected revenue/occupancy?
p. 8
“The acquisition of Work Studio is completely through the cash flows that Smartworks generated with its centres over the last one year.”
Neetish Sarda, page 8 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management guided capex of INR 550-600 crores for the year, covering both refurbishment and new fit-out capex.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Shamit Ashar: What is the targeted capex outlay for FY27?
p. 8
“So, our capex estimated is between INR 550 crores to INR 600 crores for the year.”
Neetish Sarda, page 8 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said roughly 30-35% of any new building is typically pre-committed by existing clients, with occupancy ramping to 80-85% within 13-14 months.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Yashas Gilganchi: How much of Smartworks' expansion is speculative versus pre-committed?
p. 9
“almost 30% to 35% of any building that we are taking typically gets pre-committed by existing clients of Smartworks or one of the clients who's looking at entering into the building.”
Neetish Sarda, page 9 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management expects occupancy in the 80-85% range over the next three quarters despite new centres coming online, since mature centres are running near 90%+ occupancy.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Sourabh Gilda: How is occupancy expected to track as operational footprint approaches 13 million square feet?
p. 11
“there might be a quarter or two where you might see a little bit of volatility on the occupancy, but that depends on the new centres which get added because the base effect or the new number seats take a little bit of time to ramp up.”
Neetish Sarda, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said churned clients from a few years ago at lower pricing have been replaced, and committed occupancy of mature centres remains at 92%.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Sourabh Gilda: Is the retention drop due to proactive churn, and will similar churn continue?
p. 11
“There are certain customers who came in 4-5 years ago at a slightly lower base; now that the markets have corrected, we are going ahead and churning them out and already have found a different customer to take over their space.”
Neetish Sarda, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said they build in buffers of one to two quarters for potential delays and have secured more supply than needed, with marquee institutional developers reducing completion risk.
Answered by Harsh Binani
Asked by Muralikrishnan: Are there supply-side risks from developer delays affecting the seat addition pipeline?
p. 12
“With the kind of visibility and the building signups that we've already done, even if there is a delay of a quarter or two quarters, we still have enough supply locked in now where it is not going to derail our business plan.”
Harsh Binani, page 12 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said new centres take about 12 months to ramp up and there could be property handover delays, hence the 28-30% growth range is what they are confident about.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Varun Julasaria: What per-square-foot revenue is modelled for new leasing and why is guided growth not higher given the space addition?
p. 14
“that's why the range of about 28% to 30% is what we are fairly certain about achieving and with the steady margins that we've already said.”
Neetish Sarda, page 14 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said any new client is ROCE accretive, not just GCCs, and that GCC-linked service margin expansion will take two to three quarters to show up as offices are still being built out.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Devang Patel: Is rising GCC share margin and ROCE accretive?
p. 15
“As I said earlier, the Smart Vantage program and GCC margin expansion through services will still take about two to three quarters to start affecting our numbers because right now we are building out the offices for the GCCs that we have signed up.”
Neetish Sarda, page 15 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Management said VAS revenue nearly tripled year-on-year and is margin accretive since it operates on a take-rate basis with no direct expense on the books.
Answered by Neetish Sarda
Asked by Muralikrishnan: How is VAS growth impacting EBITDA margins?
p. 17
“in terms of EBITDA margins it actually hits our bottom line directly, because most of the VAS services that we do are essentially on a take-rate basis where we go ahead, there is no expense on the books and we take a certain take-rate from the service providers.”
Neetish Sarda, page 17 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Risks flagged
Occupancy volatility from new centres still ramping up
p. 11
“there might be a quarter or two where you might see a little bit of volatility on the occupancy, but that depends on the new centres which get added because the base effect or the new number seats take a little bit of time to ramp up.”
Neetish Sarda, page 11 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Potential delays in building handovers from developers
p. 12
“With the kind of visibility and the building signups that we've already done, even if there is a delay of a quarter or two quarters, we still have enough supply locked in now where it is not going to derail our business plan.”
Harsh Binani, page 12 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Security deposit outflows temporarily depressing operating cash flow conversion
p. 6
“The dip this quarter reflects is largely on account of INR 33 crores of security deposit paid to landlords to book buildings through FY28 and partially for FY29.”
Harsh Binani, page 6 of the filed PDF · View the filing
Generated by claude-sonnet-5. Source: the transcript as filed with BSE. We link to the exchange's copy; we do not host transcripts. Parakho is a data and screening tool, not an investment adviser — nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold.